portio Latin · revision 5091

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=back-formation|attested=Plautus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈpɔr.ti.oː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈpɔr.t͡si.o]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''portiō''' ''f'' (genitive portiōnis); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably a back-formation from the phrase [[m|la|prō portiōne|t=proportionally]], in which the word first occurs.^(OLD 2012)^(de Vaan 2008) De Vaan derives the phrase from *prō ratiōne “per part”, which became *prōrtiōne and then, by dissimilation, [[m|la|portiōne]]; he finds this likelier than *prō partītiōne, since [[partītiō]] is not attested before Cicero while [[ratiō]] is found from Plautus.^(de Vaan 2008)^(Wiktionary) The OLD instead starts from *prō partiōne, from [[pars]], and the traditional view relates it to ''pars'' and to [[grc|πέρνημι|tr=pérnēmi|t=to sell]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Plautus uses ''prō portiōne'': a character tells another that, in proportion, he is neither man nor woman to him.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its oldest use is the phrase ''prō portiōne'', “in the proper degree, proportionately”, and Lewis and Short note that otherwise it is post-Augustan.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) It came to mean a ratio or proportion, a part of something, and the share due to a person.^(OLD 2012) Pliny the Elder speaks of the moon divided into equal portions.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ In medieval Latin it was an estate, a fortune, a share in a common right, a division, and the property set aside for monks.^(Niermeyer 1976) It survives in [[it|porzione]] and [[fr|portion]], and [[en|portion]] meant “allotted part, share” and also “lot, destiny” in the early 14th century.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses ''prō portiōne''.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 14–37 AD – Celsus uses it of equal proportions in a remedy.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder uses it of a part of something.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * early 14th century – English ''portion'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''prō portiōne'', proportionately, in the proper degree.^(OLD 2012)

+ # A ratio, [[m|en|proportion]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # A part, [[m|en|portion]].^(OLD 2012)

+ # The share due to a person.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' An estate; a fortune; a share in a common right.^(Niermeyer 1976)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[portionalis]]

+ * [[portiuncula]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pars]]

+ * [[prōportiō]]

+ * [[en|portion]]

+ * [[en|proportion]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}